


Radio Intern Rose Lalonde

by felinedetached



Category: Homestuck, Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: Alternate Universe, Crossover, Gen, Grimdarkness, Implied/Referenced Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-19
Updated: 2017-06-19
Packaged: 2018-11-16 01:09:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,168
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11243157
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/felinedetached/pseuds/felinedetached
Summary: Maybe you shouldn't have picked up that black page as it fluttered gracefully to the ground. You definitely should not have read the words scrawled on it in an incomprehensible eldritch language out loud.You shouldn't have taken the job either.There are three things you will never regret, and you just listed all of them.





	Radio Intern Rose Lalonde

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Unhuman Resources](https://archiveofourown.org/works/2344844) by [glowcloudy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/glowcloudy/pseuds/glowcloudy). 



When you wake, the first thing you feel is the dirt. It easily brushes off your face and clothes as you sit up. You’ve never been here before - you have no idea where you are. There is a town ahead, a huge tower looming over the area.

You remember. A black page falling from your book, white paint depicting a cartoonised eye. Tangled, incomprehensible lettering _shifted_ in front of your eyes, the words “Intern Wanted” appearing on the paper. A job is just what you need. Had been just what you needed? You’re not sure.

The town is likely where your job is. Is going to be? Either way, that’s where you’re headed. You can’t hang out in the desert after all, dehydration is a serious issue. You’re not in the mood to die that particular way - it is, after all, very slow and very painful.

Said town grows closer with every step you take towards it. A whispering grows louder as you grow closer, a whispering much like what you heard back before this. Back before this entire world, back before this town even graced this desert with its presence - before this universe existed, way back when you played a game. The whispering reminds you of those echoes that filled your ears, your head, every crevice in your brain, and told you to tangle with them.

You ignore them. You’re used to them. They’re a constant.

A sign proclaims that the name of this town is Night Vale. As you walk through the town, there are odd posters around. “WARNING” one declares, “YOU MAY SEE HOODED FIGURES NEAR THE DOG PARK.”

You see the hooded figures. One appears in front of you, the other at the end of the road behind you. They get closer, towering over you, faceless and surprisingly terrifying. You get the feeling that a lot of things in this town are surprising. Frankly, it’s unlikely that this town could be anywhere near as surprising as the game was, even with faceless beings surrounding you.

Breaking through their lines is simple - you don’t even have to fight them, just run. You slip down a narrow alley, everything a dim purple-blue in the evening light. The colours remind you of derse, just a little. The purples are very similar. A break in the derse-like purples catch your attention, a contrasting prospit yellow shining through a door that wasn’t quite shut.

“Hey!” a voice comes from behind you; it is deep, soothing. “Come inside, quick!” You follow the directions, slipping through the gap in the door.

“Close the door behind you,” the voice instructs. You do so. “Breathe,” it says, and you once again follow it’s directions. You calm, breathing in and out, carefully monitoring each breath until you’re sure you’ve calmed down. It doesn’t take you long, especially with that voice still ringing out, now from behind another, different, door.

“Nobody can find you here,” it says, still deep and soothing, like the owner is speaking to an injured animal, “You are safe. So just relax,” you cautiously take a step forward. The distance to the door at the end of the hall gradually decreases until you finally stand right in front of it. Yellow light shines through here as well, brighter than before. “And make yourself at home.” the voice finishes. Emboldened, you push open the door. A radio sits in between two candlesticks, fire flickering at the tip of each candle.

“This has been a message from our sponsors,” the radio host says.

You suddenly know where the job offer came from.

* * *

 

“Now, back to the news!” You hear, papers in your arms as you move around the station. From what you’ve seen in your time here so far, the station goes through interns faster than any other you know of. “More about the strange black cloud that appeared above the station earlier this evening:” Cecil continues. You’ve only been working for the station for about a day, but it feels like you’ve been here forever.

“It turns out, the cloud was in fact a portal for a mysterious entity which is currently taking over random citizens,” Cecil announces, and you can’t help but smirk. It is entirely your fault, although you did not mean to summon them. They must have followed you to the town when you read the jumbled lettering of the ‘Intern Wanted’ notice. “We still don’t know why it is here or what it wants, but as far as body snatching eldritch abominations go, it seems pretty harmless.”

That is definitely an indication of cluelessness. Night Vale has obviously never encountered Horrorterrors, and doesn’t know of what they can do. The signs are far from warning now - based on Cecil’s report, half the town is grimdark by now.

“Okay, so people are turning grey and speak in an unidentified ancient language, but other than this? They just go about their business as usual!” Huh. That’s interesting. Horrorterrors tend to latch onto your strongest negative emotions and drag them out into the light, holding them there, over your head, until they consume you. The fact that Night Vale residents are fine is unusual. Perhaps it isn't - you’ve never heard of anyone going Grimdark in this universe. Or well, you hadn’t until now.

“So there’s nothing to worry about, dear Night Vale residents!” Cecil announces cheerfully, “Also, they don’t seem to be interested in taking over the station, as we feared earlier. Wouldn’t that be unfortunate!”

Oh yes. Yes it would.

“Listeners, intern Marcus is handing me an envelope…” Cecil announces, and you know who’s dying next. They always seem to go after Cecil mentions them on air… “From the Station Management!?” he finishes, and you now _know_ you’re right.

The whispers get louder. They’re embedded in your brain again.

You don’t mind this time. They aren’t vicious. They aren’t seeping deep into the abysses in your brain and telling you to perform unspeakable acts, or let them into this world to ruin and leave in entropy.

“He says you’re the one to go check on Station Management,” intern Marcus tells you. You smile, black lips and grey skin, knowing without looking that he’s backing away.

You head towards the door, the writing on the window backlit by nothing.

It welcomes you.

You come out with grey skin and purple eyes, knowing you were spoken about, and knowing that no matter what Cecil sends you to do, you will not be the next intern to die.

Tattoos now writhe on your skin, the colours of derse, one of the first things you noticed about Night Vale.

“I don’t know what it is about her, but I have a really good feeling, as if she’s been here for a long time already” Cecil says, and you drop a pile of papers onto your desk. You turn away from the booth, the door to the Radio Station opening in front of you.

“And I think she will be staying for a long time.”

**Author's Note:**

> im depressed and sleep deprived please send me asks [@felinedetached](https://felinedetached.tumblr.com/)


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